The
line of women waiting to get in was long...and getting longer by the minute.
There was a buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air. The motions of the
organizers were quick and decisive as they rushed about making last minute
preparations.

We only had to
stand in that out-stretched line underneath the hot sun for about 10 minutes
before being ushered inside to the very first and second rows. We were honored
guests at the most important event happening in the municipality of Tenancingo
on that day. The new “Asociación de Mujeres Solidarias de Tenancingo” or
“Tenancingo Women’s Solidarity Association” was being formalized--the
constitution was being adopted and the executive officers were being voted upon.
Before going to the event, several people told our group that this would be an
important, "big" occasion. They were right. People had come from all over the
municipality to be a part of this grand happening--an affair that turned out to
be a wonderful mix of both business and celebration.

Dancers entertain at the new women’s
association meeting.

I was struck
by the manner in which the official business was conducted. The constitution was
read in its entirety to everyone present. My guess was that the information was
being passed on orally, probably because of the high illiteracy rate among
people, especially women. I couldn’t help but compare this process to the U.S.
where the constitution would most likely have been printed out for everyone to
read and then be voted upon, perhaps even through the internet. Additionally,
when it came time to vote, those women who were contending for an officer’s
position came to the front of the room each holding up a colored piece of paper
before them. The voters then voted for their choices of people (each voted for
three) by color versus name. Again, it seemed to be a way for a culture to
successfully work with its high rate of illiteracy. PAB delegates Jen Affeldt
and Dennis Beach were invited to serve on the committee overseeing the election.
In the end, Amalia Flores de Paz, a long-time community organizer, was voted in
as President, while the two runners up took the offices of vice-president,
treasurer and seats on the directive council of the new association.

Although the
meeting had an official agenda to complete, the gathering was steeped in an
atmosphere of celebration and success. There was much singing and dancing
intermixed amongst the official tasks. The dancers, a group of eight youth,
surprised us when they took our hands and asked us to partner with them during a
dance. People laughed and shouted and clapped their hands at the sight of us
attempting to dance the right rhythm and steps! We must have done an okay job
because as we were sitting back down, the emcee quipped, “And who said North
Americans can’t dance!”
As part of the ceremonies, PAB received a plaque thanking PAB for our support of
women’s development. All in all, it was an exciting occasion for us to attend.
And it was inspiring for us to bear witness to the success of so many women of
Tenancingo!

It is said
that to form an opinion of a person, one must first walk a mile in that person's
shoes. After our ten day trip, I have formed a saying of my own: to get a true
picture of El Salvador, one must walk alongside the Salvadorans. I had read
stories of the bloody war in newspapers and seen images of Romero in movies, but
it wasn’t until I conversed and visited museums with the people of Tenancingo
that I began to understand the gravity and significance of their history.

Our delegation spent four days in
Tenancingo meeting with the directives of the various communities and talking
casually with children and adults we met. Whether expressing needs or sharing
stories, the people of the Tenancingo area revealed themselves to be well
organized, devoted, humble, and very gracious. We glimpsed the processes that
lead to progress for women’s organizations. We saw the new housing developments
that stand as a result of hard work following war and earthquakes. We
experienced genuine sharing and hospitality in each place we visited. Our group
was warmly welcomed upon arrival and when it came time to leave, we knew that
our time in the communities was greatly appreciated.

Shortly after our return to San
Salvador, we were reunited with ten of our new friends. SHARE had planned a
meeting with our delegation and another from Visitation Parish in Kansas City,
sistered with the the urban parish of María Madre de los Pobres. This changed
our focus from the sister city to El Salvador as a whole. With blended groups of
gringos and Salvadorans, we discussed the meaning of various items, from corn
and an FMLN hat to soil and a pair of boxer shorts. I learned that objects I may
take for granted hold great significance for El Salvador. The letters FMLN (Farabundo
Martí para la Liberación Nacional) “represent the past and also the heroes of
tomorrow.” The corn and land are symbols of life and struggle. “God gave us land
that we may administrate it, not exploit it and others on it.” The underwear not
only brought up the subject of sweatshops, but also led to comments on the
ever-present culture of machismo.

Salvadorans participating at the "dynamica"
and workshop in San Salvador.

In the afternoon, the entire
group visited the UCA, the Jesuit university and scene of the brutal murders of
six priests. First, we had a guided tour of the museum for the martyrs of El
Salvador. More impressive than the exhibits themselves were the reactions of the
Salvadorans upon seeing them. They surged toward the glass when the guide drew
attention to a portrait of Romero which was shot up in the raids. They were
respectfully silent as they viewed the clothing the six priests had been wearing
the day they were slain. They lingered on the details of each display and I was
so aware not only of the events, but also of the impact that the events had on
the people of El Salvador. Later we had a chance to page through albums of
photos taken the day of the murders. After seeing a couple of the bloody images,
I had to look away; however, Consuelo, Marcelo, Raquel, and Fidel looked
carefully at each one. I was struck with a difference between us. I turned my
head and tried to spare myself from the truth of what happened. The people of El
Salvador, who have lived through the days of the war and have worked to recover
from it, were comforted that there was proof; that the brutality and gross
violation of human rights was documented.

My experiences that day with the
people of Tenancingo will never be forgotten. Side by side with the natives of
El Salvador the newspaper articles, movie images, and museum exhibits were
translated from mere objects into a vivid understanding of the violent history
of the country, the integrity of the people, and the importance of solidarity
among all of us.

Six people from the Saint Cloud area
visited El Salvador and Tenancingo this past July 16-26, the tenth PAB
delegation to visit in the past eleven years. Brother Dennis Beach, OSB, of
Saint John’s Abbey led the delegation, his fifth. Jen Affeldt, Spanish teacher
at Saint Cloud Tech High School joined the delegation and served as chief
translator. Thanks to Jen and thanks also to the Spanish Club at Tech for their
generous donation to the cause of education in Tenancingo!

Delegation up a tree! The 2002 PAB
delegation taks a perch in a huge guanacaste tree in the city of Tecoluca.
Left to right: Nicole, Dennis (peeking past Nicole’s shoulder) Carla,
Dirck (seated on ladder), Dave Johnson (1999 PAB delegate and SHARE Grass
Roots/Sistering Team) Jen, and Malarie. Tecoluca, the site of this
picture, was virtually destroyed in the 2001 earthquake. Delegates visited
the municipality to view first-hand a success story for effective local
organizing

The other four delegates were: Carla
Durand of Cold Spring. Carla is the Social Justice coordinator for Campus
Ministry at the College of Saint Benedict, and PAB thanks CSB for their
generosity in partially funding Carla’s trip. This helped make it possible for
Carla’s soon-to-be-step-daughter, Malarie Demarais, to join the delegation!
Malarie, 15, is entering her sophomore year at Rocori High School. Also
participating were Dirck Curry, a physician at the VA hospital and
Divinity/Deaconate student at St. John’s School of Theology, and Nicole Curry,
Dirck’s older daughter. Nicole is 16 and a student at Sartell High School. With
them we also thank the parish community of St. Francis Xavier in Sartell for
their generous support of the 10th PAB delegation. St. Francis helped collect
school, medical, and sewing supplies to take to Tenancingo, and hosted the
packing party in July. Dirck’s daughters’ soccer team also donated soccer
equipment for youth in Tenancingo. Great job to all who helped and participated!
Hope to see you with us next summer!

When I went on this trip I encountered a lot
of things I never thought I would see. For instance the kids in El Salvador were
such a huge influence in my trip. They never looked at what they didn’t have,
and I always saw them with their open hearts and their learning minds. They were
always cheerful and playing like there wasn’t a worry in the world. They touched
my heart and now I hope when you read what I write that they will touch yours
also!

As I watched the kids of El
Salvador play,

I notice one thing stands in
my way.

We are from two different
worlds collided as one.

We know not what the other
has done.

How our lives are so
drastically different but yet the same,

How much they think of us
but yet they have so much pain.

For in our world we don’t
know the cries of hunger,

And what we have that goes
to waste, they would take and eat for supper.

I see these things as I
glance at the kids,

I wish there was something I
could do,

Some way I could help.

Then I realize that they
live like this one day at a time.

Not knowing what their
future holds,

Or what tomorrow will bring.

They just live their life,
no worries no lies.

I wish they could have the
life we have in America,

they should get the chance
to live life to the fullest.

For we don’t know how they
hunger and thirst.

Or how there lives could
change in a heartbeat,

Yet these kids keep living
life and thanking God for what they have.

As I wonder why God made
these living habits,

I wonder how they can live
their lives.

I can’t speak their language
but we can communicate,

Throughout thoughts and
actions that’s how we can relate.

I can tell that these kids
are one of a kind

And that’s what I see when I
look into their eyes.

(I wrote this to express what my feelings were about
the delegation I was on this past summer. Malarie)

Educational institutions in
Tenancingo are making great strides at many levels. Although the delegation had
a very short time to visit the schools, we received impressive reports and saw
the results of careful planning in many places. primary among these are the
grade school and high school in Tenancingo itself, but we saw that two of the
smallest communities had been able to start new initiatives: Irioma opened a
pre-school and first-grade program that will expand and allow younger children
to begin their education without having to make the breathtaking (figuratively
and literally) hike down to Rosario Tablón. Nuevo San José El Sitio opened a
pre-school and child care facility that the community has been organizing to
promote for some two years. And the Canton of El Pepeto was preparing to move
its small grade school into a new facility (opening the week after we visited).

None of these wonderful accomplishments are really
finished projects. Both schools in Tenancingo itself gave the delegation
proposals for funding of new projects, and consideration and development of
these requests will take place over the next several months.. Following are some
highlights of both their accomplishments and plans.

The partitions and tables in the computer
lab constructed with last year’s PAB donation at the Tenancingo High School.

At the Instituto Nacional, (the high school),
Professor Verónica Elizabeth Mejía de De Paz has taken over as director, since
Don Tito Peréz, who suffered a debilitating stroke last year, is not able to
continue. Doña Veronica and another new professor, Pedro Benigno Peña Díaz,
oversaw the expenditure of funds donated by PAB last year and presented an
outstanding report of their work. They said they were very nervous because the
knew Don Tito had worked very closely with us and had earned our trust and they
wanted to prove themselves worthy of the same. Without a doubt, they impressed
the delegation quite a bit! With the nearly $1200 given last year, they assisted
three needy students with tuition, constructed and installed partitions and new
tables for the computing /typing lab, and reserved $350 for the construction of
a retaining wall to contain soil erosion (to be completed after the rains stop
in October).

The next priorities they see include continued
tuition assistance, repair or replacement of typewriters and computers, purchase
of recording boom-boxes for language instruction, and, most importantly, the
construction of a multi-use space that can house additional classrooms as well
as all-school assemblies. Next January (2003), a new 3rd year program for
students on the technical track will be launched, and the two classrooms the
school has currently are already used. There are 45 first-year students in one
classroom and projected to be as many next year. 25 students are now in the
second year, many of whom would like to continue to the third year. In addition,
some former graduates could come back to do the previously unavailable third
year technical studies. While PAB probably cannot and should not finance the
complete project of building expansion (this is the Ministry of Education’s
responsibility), it’s nice to know the school has strong and visionary
leadership.

The Tenancingo Elementary School also presented
plans it has elaborated, in which it listed the following priorities for future
development:

Reconstruction and enclosure of the “septic
tanks”;

Development of the Computer Center and
typewriters;

Equipping the student library;

Construction of a kitchen;

Remodeling of the auditorium;

Enclosing the sports courts.

Again, such projects cannot all be taken on
completely by PAB, but it certainly is possible for us to select from the list a
priority we would like to support and do some fund-raising and organizing around
it. In fact, since both schools and the grassroots municipal development council
have mentioned the need for typewriters and the desire to make some further
inroads into the computer age, donations of used but still serviceable computer
equipment would be a great project for folks to organize around.

Since the high school already has PC-style
computers, it would be best to stay with these. It is also best not to have
something too old, as Spanish-language software will have to be installed on it,
and the older a machine is, the quicker it will be completely obsolete. Right
now it looks like the schools could use PC-style machines that could run Windows
98 software. Fund-raising could help upgrade some donated machines as well as
pay for transportation. Local businesses and schools might be willing to donate
machines being replaced by newer models.
In other areas, San José El Sitio is trying to finance a lunch program for their
pre-school and day-care center. They say it will cost between $3-4 a day, and it
seems this will provide food for all 25 children in their care! Since other
organizations helped them with funds to build the center, they are out of
options for assistance and are turning to PAB for help.

These are just some ideas. If anyone is interested
in working on these projects, contact Br. Dennis Beach by e-mail: <dbeach@csbsju.edu>.
While I will be on sabbatical in Chicago all year, I can put those interested in
touch with one another and let them work on the project. Let’s DO it!

Many people wonder just what
we’re talking about when we talk in PAB about the “community” of Tenancingo.
It’s a good question and like many good questions, does not have a simple
answer. Here’s a little background on the relevant political geography.

Municipality: This is the official, legal
designation for any city or town that has a mayor’s office and that operates as
a kind of regional center. Some municipalities cover many square miles in which
are scattered many different villages and communities. The municipality is the
official jurisdiction for things like national elections and federal aid.
Tenancingo is thus an official “municipality” encompassing many communities, as
well as the town center (in Spanish, the casco urbano or “urban skull” of the
municipality!) in this way, a municipality is almost like a mini-county.

Canton: A small village or hamlet that is
part of a larger municipality. Rarely are these contiguous to town, and many are
a good hike or even bus ride plus hike away. There are officially 13 cantones
plus the “town center” and the new “colonia” that form the Municipality of
Tenancingo. Rosario Perico, El Pepeto, Jiñuco, and Corral Viejo are among the
cantones that PAB has as “sisters.” The largest, Corral Viejo, Jiñuco, and El
Pepeto, number between 40 and 75 families.

Caserio: an even smaller hamlet that is a
sub-division of a canton. Since mayor’s offices coordinate their activities and
projects through the cantones of the municipality, caserios usually must work
through the local canton, although some have developed a good deal of
independence in organization and planning. Nueva San José El Sito and Irioma are
caserios belonging to the cantones of Jiñuco and Rosario Tablón, respectively.
We are unsure whether Hacienda Nueva is classified as a canton in itself or if
it is a caserio attached also to Jiñuco.

Colonia: While a dictionary would tell you
that a colonia is a “colony” and be right, the word most often refers to any
residential area, what we usually call a sub-division or housing development.
The new and only colonia in Tenancingo is “Tenancingo Gardens” (see article).

Cantones, Caserios and
Colonias and some Parishes can all legitimately be
referred to as “Communities.”

Department: Officially, the “Departments” of
El Salvador are the regions into which the country as a whole is divided. There
are 14 of them, and they have varying numbers of legislators elected depending
on their population. In this way, they are like our “states” but keep in mind
that all of El Salvador is the size of Massachusetts. Thus, in size, they may be
more like mega-counties, with municipalities forming the mini-counties within
them.

This was the way PAB delegates saw the new housing
development in July of 2000, when applicants were first issued temporary
building materials by the mayor’s office. To apply for federal housing
assistance, the mayor’s office needed to demonstrate need, and having
people living in tin shacks is the accepted demonstration.

Here are the houses in the “Gardens
of Tenancingo” in July of 2002, nearly completed thanks to persistence on
the part of the mayor’s office and the people’s undaunted spirit. While
the “gardens” have yet to appear, the “colonia” or housing development is
there!

The Assembly of the Gardens of
Tenancingo present PAB with a plaque for our help, using the sound system
we financed for them last year to do the presentation!

Tenancingo
faithful once again have a temple in which to worship God on Sundays and from
which to coordinate their ministry to all the people of God in town and the
surrounding communities. While the earthquake of January, 2001, left most of the
buildings located in the Tenancingo area intact (there was damage to some
homes), the February encore left the colonial church building in the center of
town damaged beyond the safety threshold for continued use.

Tenancingo's
"provisional" church in use on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2002.
All the labor to build the church was contributed by parishioners and
supporters.

Although the damage to the old
church is officially repairable, such work was not among the priorities facing
the country after the devastating earthquakes, which left nearly one million
people temporarily homeless. under the leadership of Padre Joaquín Melendez, the
pastor since late 1997, the parish undertook a study of the possibilities of
repairing the structure, while they continued to have weekly services in the
inadequate parish hall, designed for meetings of at most 100 people. However,
this study showed that simply preliminary work for repairs would consume far
more than what they could hope to raise. So instead, they set about looking at
the possibility of a “provisional” structure. The land across the main street
from the church and adjacent to the rectory had once housed a convent, abandoned
before the war and destroyed during it. On this plot the people designed and
built a cinder-block structure capable of holding even a second floor, should
this ever become desirable. The overall budget for the building, about
$22,000.00, was still not attainable, but they began where they could, with a
few donations and the volunteer labor of countless hands. Madre Yvonne, a
Belgian religious sister who has been working in the town since the wartime,
donated the seed-money, and people came forward with their mite here, their mite
there.

In the end, the people of
Tenancingo squeezed from their tortilla-and-bean savings enough money for basic
materials, and with their contributed labor, they raised a provisional structure
which was inaugurated on Palm Sunday (March 24), 2002, the 22nd anniversary of
the assassination of Archbishop Romero. The accompanying picture, taken that
Sunday, came with a report to Br. Dennis Beach, who forwarded it to Rosanne
Fischer and Fr. Bill Vos of the Mission Office of the Docese of Saint Cloud.
Back in Jul of 2001, after the initial evaluations of damage were in, Rosanne
and Bill had convinced the diocesan council to set aside some funds to assist
rebuilding Tenancingo’s church, if a plan and a budget could be worked out.

Luckily, Dennis’s return from
Nicaragua and Costa Rica came just before Rosanne was scheduled to leave on a
visit to mission sites supported by the diocese, and, inspired by the dedication
and faith of the people of Tenancingo. wheels turned quickly. St. Cloud Mission
Office donated the $5,500.00 remaining to be raised so that doors, windows, and
other hardware necessary to secure the building could be installed, ad Rosanne
brought the check down to an unsuspecting Padre Joaquin in early June.

Although the basic structure had
been finished, the lack of security prevented it from being used except on
special occasions, like Holy Week. When the PAB delegation met with Padre
Joaquín a few weeks later, in July, he said that the faith of Saint Cloud was a
real inspiration to all of them there. We said that whatever inspiration we gave
was merely a reflection of the faith they inspired in us. It is a true lesson in
gospel solidarity: people of faith come together, and everyone’s faith grows by
leaps and bounds! And the kingdom of God grows wider, happier, more confirmed in
its vision of justice!

SHARE, the foundation that
makes much of Partners Across Borders’ work possible, adopted a new 5 year plan
at a January Board meeting. The is considered the “road map” to help SHARE walk
with the Salvadoran people in support of its mission: “To serve and support the
empowerment of poor historically marginalized Salvadoran communities in their
struggle to meet their immediate needs, as well as to build sustainable
long-term solutions to the problems of poverty, underdevelopment, and social
injustice.”

This mission is an ambitious one, and the work of
the plan is to map out how SHARE, with PAB and other US sister parishes and
supporters accompanying them, can best fulfill this mission. Those means SHARE
judged to be most important were the following: “empowering civil society,
especially women, and strengthening sustainable development alternatives.” Of
course, this is still only the broad outlines of the plan, which will develop
many components as it is implemented over the next five years. But no matter
what concrete plans take shape, they will be guided by these focusing themes:
Women’s Development, Citizen Participation, and Leadership Development.

What the plan attempts to do is focus on what might
be called “human capital,” that is the poor and traditionally marginalized
people themselves, empowering them to take charge of their own future, however
that evolves. They are the ones, especially the young, who will face this future
and build their lives in it, and they are the ones who should be empowered to do
so with confidence and sufficient support to be successful.

One ramification of this plan is that SHARE is no
longer working with community-based projects such as corn grinders, land
purchase, or sewing projects. Instead, projects will have a regional focus, to
help develop better networking and common opportunities in the countryside. It
also prevents the phenomenon of one community having a benefactor who seems to
supply all their material needs, which makes a neighboring community think not
of self-development, but of finding their own benefactor and waiting passively
for help from outside.

PAB will still help the Tenancingo area with
material needs, but we’ll have to make sure projects are manageable and have
adequate supervision locally. But examples like the sound system for the new
housing development and even the earthquake housing reconstruction overseen by
CORDES, another Salvadoran non-governmental organization, are certainly
possible. And the schools have demonstrated a level of initiative and
independence that makes projects they manage seem to work very well.

So we’ll still be accompanying the people of
Tenancingo, and still be fund-raising, but now we’ll add in projects on the
regional level in which Tenancingo is already participating!

José Luis Pineda, far right, chats with
Tara from the SHARE office in El Salvador and Romeo Duarte, still PAB’s
ever-faithful driver last July in Tenancingo.

José Luis Pineda, president of the Community Council
of Nuevo San José El Sitio and one of the team of promoters working with the
Tenancingo micro-region, will visit the Saint Cloud area from Tuesday, October 1
until Sunday, October 6. José will also participate in the SHARE National
Gathering in Washington DC from September 27-30th. A meeting is planned on
Tuesday afternoon, October 1, at St. Francis Xavier Church in Sartell that is
open to all PAB members and supporters. José Luis (“Chepe Luis”) will talk of
the plans and projections of the new promoters team, the re-organization of the
grassroots Municipal Development Council, and other items of interest.

If you are interested in helping with events this
week, whether as a driver, a translator or as a participant, or if you have
ideas you want included, contact Rosanne Fischer at the Mission Office:
251-1100. We are currently looking for a driver to take José Luis down to a very
early flight on Monday, October 7. If you’re a morning person, sign up!

PAB delegation at lunch in the
“local” building in Tenancingo. Recent negotiations, with PAB financial
help, finally succeeded in securing the title to the local. It will be
managed by CORDES for the communities until their legal status as an
organization is firm.

Jose Luis Pineda of Nuevo San José El Sitio, Tenancingo, will visit the
Saint Cloud Area on October 1-6, after the SHARE National Gathering in
Washington, DC. José will meet with all interested PAB folks on Tuesday,
October 1st, at 4 PM, at St. Francis Xavier Church in Sartell. Call
Rosanne Fischer (251-1100) or S. Anne Malerich, OSB (251-2225) for more
information. Or e-mail: mission@cloudnet.com.

We also need drivers and translators for October 1-6. Call or e-mail
Rosanne at the numbers given.

Partners Across Borders' Newsletter is edited
by Dennis Beach, OSB. It normally appears three times a year: Winter,
Spring/Summer, and Fall. Contributions are welcome! Help in editing and
doing layout for the remaining issues in 2002-03 is needed! Contact dbeach@csbsju.edu for information.

PAB Meetings are held the 1st Monday of every month at
Salem Lutheran Church, 90 Riverside Dr. SE, St. Cloud, from 7:00
PM - 8:30 PM. All are welcome and encouraged to attend!